The paper deals with an anti-seismic system developed in South Italy during the 18th C.

What is it about?

The Borbone system is an important step in the science history. In fact it represents the implementation of the first anti-seismic code in Europe enacted by the Borbone government during the 18th C.

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Why is it important?

The “Bourbon System” was conceived in the Calabria region at the end of the XVIII c. and soon prescribed by the local Practice codes; these are to be regarded as the first European anti-seismic codes to prevent the damages of the seismic events on the constructions and the people. It has been subjected to several general check outs in the following two centuries in occasion of the earthquakes that hit the buildings that had been constructed according to this concept. The general remark is that the System conferred to the constructions a high strength to the dynamic actions; this was already witnessed by the most credited scholars of the time, amongst them Baratta, Canevazzi, Panetti. Extreme failure modes as collapse were always limited to single small parts of the walls; the rotation of small masses of masonry towards the exterior of the buildings usually occurred. It ought to be said that the wooden members, that constituted the internal framing, in general did not suffer damage. Observations and indications about damages on buildings constructed according to the System, drawn by a large collection of historical photos, will be presented and discussed in the paper. They focus on the contribution of the timber members to improve the strength to static and dynamic actions and on the behavior of the joints, taking into account design of the node, number and size of the concurring members, masonry bond. Furthermore a case study concerning building of that kind, still standing but in poor condition, will be documented and discussed especially for what is concerned the occurrence of the biotic decay of the timber elements included in the masonry. The results of a large survey of these buildings in order to assess the presence of damage agents and decay will be presented. In this way the paper intends to propose also a contribution to the evaluation of the real protection of the joints to weathering and related consequences offered by the framed System.